Why don't more of you ride bikes?

eidolon

eidolon

eidolon

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Joined
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Newcastle upon Tyne
I've always liked fast cars but a couple of years ago I passed my bike test and discovered a whole new level of performance and fun.

So I was just wondering what stops more people riding bikes. For £10k you can have a bike which will leave any car standing and provide more thrills than any car is capable of. Nothing, and I mean nothing will prepare you for the performance of a sportsbike. Most people on here seem to like performance so why don't more of you ride?

I'm sure we've all seen plenty of the car vs bike videos but here's a couple more to get the conversation started.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zb1j8FmW74#t=484

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPNs3v4m7TA#t=205

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boOnygO-ZWc#t=34
 
Because I know I'd die. Even the most careful riders seem to have an off at least once in their riding career, and I would certainly not be the most careful of riders :p
 
I always wanted a bike, never had the guts to do it.

Now I have children I'd never want them to grow up without me as a result of being on (or off, incidentally) on a bike.

A friend was killed on one a couple of years back and it made the dangers all the more real.
 
As above, extreme injury or death.

I'd love a bike, but i've had enough squeaky bum moments in a car to know it'd be a terrible idea
 
geekman said:
Because I know I'd die.
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Clarkey said:
Why not ride? Death, simple.
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That's a common misconception and I used to have that view but you ultimately control the throttle and the brakes; you can mitigate being hit by working on your riding position, style and what you wear. It's true you're more likely to be killed or seriously injured because of the exposed nature of the bike but the majority of these deaths are the large demographic of riders who use inappropriate speeds in inappropriate places or just run out of talent at 140mph on the Cat & Fiddle. At the speeds some of us lot drive our 90's cars at if we ever did stack it it'll probably be a similar fate as if you were on a motorcycle.

Driving my car flat out is incredibly immersive, at slower speeds it's pretty dull, I never find riding the bike dull at any speed. The bike commands huge respect and to ride it hard is much more challenging than a car and I love it for it.
 
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It's the self control / talent awareness part that I lack, and what would ultimately see me either being banned for a long long time or killed
 
Because I'd much rather spend the money a bike would cost on bettering/buying a better car, I understand the appeal of bikes but it just isn't for me.

Also death.
 
As a rider of 20+ years as well as a car driver I have to say that I'd like to keep it with just a few riders on the road. The way I see some people drive their cars, god knows what they'd be like with nearly 200bhp and 170kg.

Motorcycling isn't for everyone. It's dangerous, cold in the winter and sweaty in the summer.
 
I don't trust other road users.

I don't trust myself, I've ridden litre sports bike and know how quickly you can be hitting 120+mph I'd either seriously hurt myself or lose my license very rapidly.

My fiance doesn't want me to ride due to the points above
 
i'm a hetrosexual











kidding :) don't trust myself or other road users for me to live more than a few years
 
In truth I've gone the opposite way, from bikes to fast(ish) cars.

Spent all my younger years riding bikes and was lucky to have quite a few very decent sportsbikes, nothing over 600cc (or green) but power isn't everything ;) At the same time I got into racing at club level starting out with an RGV250 then moving onto a 1993 then 1996 Honda RS125 pukka race bikes. So I was having loads of fun on the roads and the track too.

As interest died off in the racing I had by then a Yamaha R6 on the road, not the slowest of sportsbikes by a long way - think it clocked 159mph (radar speed) at a speed day at Elvington in pretty much standard trim and high 10s 1/4 miles to give an idea of what it was capable of. Bear in mind too that some car manufacturers must use several miles of runway to get the top speeds they quote.

Once I called it a day with the racing I spent few years with the R6 on the road but it was getting silly - to ride the thing anywhere near it's limits was asking for trouble (licence or worse) and getting itchy for the track again I started turning up at Oulton Park for ad-hoc trackday sessions before a race bodykit was spotted on the forum and the R6 evolved into a dedicated track bike. Next bike after that was the 600RR Honda which did 300 running-in miles on the road before getting the track treatment (full motor work included this time)

Was just making less sense to me doing road riding and then in 2006 when I got my first Focus ST I had something I could enjoy on the road every day without having to go to the extremes I had with the bikes.

Eventually with the trackdays that died off too as other people I'd enjoyed days with moved on to other things and the Honda was sold at the end of 2009 having only done 1 trackday that year, half of that spent in the garage at Oulton as it rained enough to flood the track :rolleyes:

So for me it's been combination of things, been there and enjoyed many many thrills with sportsbikes, some spills (racing mainly), got bored with road riding, bike-friends moving onto other things, and getting myself a sporty car which gave me some of the bike thrills but less risky and something you'd get to use every day.
 
I actually "get" bikes. I love the idea of them, and I can totally see the attraction. I honestly think I'd love to own and ride a motorbike.

Why don't I? Fear. I am now too scared to get into biking. I can't help but think I'd end up seriously injured as a result of owning one and it scares me.

I think if I had got into it a few years ago, then I would have loved it. But I didn't really have the money to. Now I could probably afford to do everything necessary to start riding, but I've developed a sense of self preservation that's making me think twice.
 
I'm another one that doesn't ride as I don't want to die. The number of retards I see on the roads makes me glad I have metal and airbags (well, one).

Also I stay dry and warm (and not too hot) and comfortable and have music when I go for a drive.

I do occasionally get jealous when I see a biker (sensibly) overtake their way up a procession of cars stuck behind a slow driver, and the ease in which they do so. ********.
 
I'm quite surprised by how many people think you instantly die the moment you swing a leg over a bike. As said above, the bike is under your control and if you have no self restraint then you're probably best off not riding something with the best part of 1000BHP per tonne but if you're not an idiot then bikes are great fun.
 
I don't like pain and I know I will fall off. In the last 3 months I know 2 people who have had very serious bike accidents that could have easily killed them.
 
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